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New Area- and Population-based Geographic Crosswalks for U.S. Counties and Congressional Districts, 1790-2020

Author

Listed:
  • Ferrara, Andreas

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Testa, Patrick A.

    (Tulane University)

  • Zhou, Liyang

    (University of Pittsburgh)

Abstract

A common problem in applied research involves harmonizing geographic units across time or different levels of aggregation. One approach is to use crosswalks that associate factors located within some origin unit to different reference units based on relative areas. We develop an alternative approach based on relative population, accounting for heterogeneities in urbanization within counties. We construct population-based crosswalks for 1790 through 2020, mapping county-level data across U.S. Censuses as well as from counties to congressional districts. Using official Census data for congressional districts, we show that population-based weights outperform area-based ones in terms of similarity to official data

Suggested Citation

  • Ferrara, Andreas & Testa, Patrick A. & Zhou, Liyang, 2021. "New Area- and Population-based Geographic Crosswalks for U.S. Counties and Congressional Districts, 1790-2020," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 588, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:588
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David S. Lee & Enrico Moretti & Matthew J. Butler, 2004. "Do Voters Affect or Elect Policies? Evidence from the U. S. House," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(3), pages 807-859.
    2. Richard Hornbeck, 2010. "Barbed Wire: Property Rights and Agricultural Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 767-810.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eric C. Edwards & Walter N. Thurman, 2022. "The Economics of Climatic Adaptation: Agricultural Drainage in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: American Agriculture, Water Resources, and Climate Change, pages 29-51, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N9 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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